F/X (1986)

Better Late Then Never

The acting in this movie is really good.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

I had this movie on my Instant Queue for a long time and never watched it for some reason. Anyway I just got done watching it and loved it! It was way better than I expected. I saw it had a 6.5 before I watched it so I thought it would be good, but it was really good to my surprise. The idea was original and exciting. If you haven't seen it the story is a Special Effects guy is asked by the government to help fake a former Mob members death so the Mob stops going after him. It turns out that wasn't the whole story and Roland(The main character) is in for a wild ride. It keeps you thinking and it actually has a good bit of action.If you have not seen it go watch it, I promise you will like it.

"F/X" is a underrated little movie from the 80's , that I believe deserves some kind of recognition. It manages to entertain with drama, humor, and thrills. It's a lot of fun. I wouldn't call it an action movie. I agree there is some action here , but personally I think this movie is more of a thriller.The idea for the story is very original - a special effects expert gets involved with a police and mafia . "F/X" is a great love letter for all those special effects guys (and girls) that were some kind of magicians in the past , when computers weren't involved in creating the movie magic."F/X" feels like "Home alone" for adults. The whole movie is basically Rollie Tyler using his skills and toys against his enemies. Bryan Brown ("Cocktail") is great as Rollie , the main hero .He's got a down to earth, normal guy attitude that makes us like him. There is also another Brian - Brian Dennehy ("Rambo : First blood ") as the smooth-talking detective, Leo McCarthy. He's a good supporting character , the only one that suspects what is going on.The special effects are good. It's not strange , since this movie is a tribute to the movie wizards that help us make our dreams come true (at least on the screen). Action scenes are done well . The acting is good. There are nice twists and good ideas are along the way . There's a great song at the ending credits of the movie - Imagination " Just an illusion"."F/X" inspired a television show of the same name starring Cameron Daddo and also a nice sequel. It's a good , fun movie. It shows that originality means much . I miss the 80's movies with their originality...I give it 7/10.

Movie special effects man Roland Tyler (Bryan Brown) is hired by two Justice Dept agents (Cliff DeYoung and Mason Adams) to fake the killing of a mobster (Jerry Orbach!) who's in the Witness Protection Program. He agrees but the mobster is actually killed by mistake. Soon Roland has the FBI AND the NY police led by Lt. Leo McCarthy (Brian Dennehy) on his tail...but he has plenty of special effects (F/X) tricks to fool them.If you stop to think about this for one moment the plot has HUGE loopholes and some of the F/X Roland pulls off could never happen in real life...but the movie is SO entertaining you won't care! It moves quickly with a particularly vicious fight scene and a long exciting car chase thrown in. The F/X Roland uses to fight back are a lot of fun if totally implausible. The acting is (with one exception) very good. Bryan is handsome, muscular and lots of fun in his role. His Australian accent somehow helps. Dennehy plays his umpteenth cop role but he's still very good and lots of fun. DeYoung and Adams are great as the slimy villains and Orbach plays a role you've never seen him playing before--a villain! The only debit--Martha Gehman as Roland's assistant. The woman is a TERRIBLE actress and basically shrieks all her lines. Still this is a fun, quick little thriller well worth catching. I give it an 8.

Bryan Brown and Brian Dennehy star in F/X , which turned out to be a fine, inventively sophisticated on-the-run thriller with some outstanding make-up FX work, rock solid performances and compelling writing in which a highly regarded special effects artist Rollie Tyler is hired by the justice department to stage an assassination of an important underworld figure. Unknowingly to him, the department is trying to destroy any evidence of the scheme and another loose end includes him. Double-crossed, he goes in hiding and soon he's being pinned for the murder. So he reverts to his bag of tricks to uncover the truth.The gimmicky props amuse, but the elaborate story (while at times too convenient in its developments) keeps a good pace and stays on the move. The mysterious build-up does peter out into standard on-the-run mechanisms. Brown is suitably good in the role as Tyler and Dennehy is perfectly pitched as the grizzled cop on the case. The support cast has the likes of Cliff DeYoung, Diana Venora, Mason Adams, Jerry Orbach and Tom Noonan. Robert Mandel's direction is well-oiled, but quite formulaic with its old fashion suspense and cat-and-mouse thrills, as it seems like life goes onto imitate art. Bill Conti' scores the enchantingly characteristic music to good effect. "F/X " is showy and implausible, but conventionally exciting.